"I just encountered the most accessible book on -and beyond- Yoga ! In Threads of Yoga, Mathew Remske gets straight to why it is that I practice yoga. Beyond " stretchy-pants fitness", beyond obscure and mysterious-sounding terminology, he takes an ancient classic and makes it breathe and makes it applicable to my real life, and touches my heart and soul. Isn't this really why we practice? To get in, to get connected, to see clearly. Read this book -it will open a path."

A limited number of Threads of Yoga are available for sale in the studio.

Ayurveda is the traditional medicine of India. Ayurveda is experiential somatic (felt sense) medicine. In Ayurveda everything is medicine: food, exercise, daily self-care, prayer and meditation. Ayurvedic medicine is adapted to an individual’s personal constitution: how you eat to care for yourself is specifically adapted to your body, your emotions, your time of life, the seasons, and where you live. This view of the health care makes sense to me. My husband and I both eat a whole food diet, but a different whole food diet. We have different food sensitivities and allergies, we burn calories at a different rate, we sleep and exercise differently. So although the general prescription is the same, the specifics of the prescription are unique to us both. This is the medicine of Ayurveda.

I find Matthew Remski to be one of the most compelling modern Ayurvedic practitioners and yogic philosphers of our day. If you ask Matthew why ghee is good for you, he is likely to provide an answer that spans the range from western neuroscience to ancient philosophy to metaphor. He offers ayurvedic health care that ties the practical details of self-care to our greater presence on the planet. He doesn’t let yogi’s off the political hook, he pushes us to ‘act’ our yoga principles in our lives. He is willing to question the dogma of yoga to find the gems that are worthy of continuing to guide us. He does so in a way that is easily accessible and fundamentally practical. Matthew teaches an Ayurveda that you can incorporate into your life to make profound changes in an intelligent and compassionate fashion.

I am extremely excited to be hosting Matthew Remski at Live Well Studio where he will be teaching “Ayurveda for Yoga Practice” October 5th and 6th. Here is Matthew’s description of the workshop:

"Yoga has its own medicine — Ayurveda – which seeks to illuminate our ecology, and to harmonize with it. This workshop will be a primer in the essentials of Ayurvedic holism, foundational energies (elements), modes (gunas), and bodily flows (doshas). The language of Ayurveda connects desires to the tissues, digestion to will, fertility to joy, and the body to the seasons. Together, we’ll explore basic intuition techniques, simple assessment tools for exploring constitution of self and other, and workshop whatever questions about personal health and balance arise from our discussion."

In addition, Matthew will be giving a free public lecture on Friday night, October 4th, “Yoga on the threshold of Activism”. Matthew has proposed that all yoga studios should also be soup kitchens hence this event will be by donation benefiting Linn Benton Food Share. Come hear his thoughts on how yogis can inspire themselves to a more active roll in the world.

When I first came to Live Well, I remember Lisa saying, “Your body will wake up if you let it.” I find this to be happening in ways in ways I no longer thought were possible.

For all my life, I have been too heavy. When I was young, the fight against fat was imposed on me. I tried, rebelled, and did all kinds of stupid things to win that fight – but, of course, that is not what happened. The notion of a variety of healthy body sizes had not arrived yet, so all I knew was that, no matter what I did, I could not become what I was supposed to be. My body became a war zone – the scene of countless losing battles – but my spirit was the casualty.

If one way of life with my body was war, the other was resignation (and, on bad days, despair.) After a long period of intense stress took its toll, I resigned myself to fate. I had no more energy for the fight but instead decided to eat as healthfully as possible. “At least I can do this much,” I thought. It was a step in the right direction, but I didn’t yet know the rest of the path.

Then, a year ago on Labor Day, my body nudged me toward life. That nudge arrived like a problem: I’d gone into the garden to pick zucchini, then realized that my leg hurt. Part of it was bright red, pulsing and hot. It scared me and got my attention. I knew I needed to get into motion, but this message said it was also time to “take off my shoes” so I couldn’t run away. Time to be still and listen. Holy ground.

In the midst of this there was something like a magnetic force that drew me to Live Well. It insisted I come here. So I did. But I was tentative, scared, wondering if I could do this. Kristina and Lisa welcomed me warmly. Then one day during announcements there was talk about a class called “Making Peace with Your Body.” Peace sounded really good. I learned that the peace-making path is more like alignment with life – learning to love oneself and nurture oneself well, leaning into real life.

For not quite a year I’ve been talking one step after another on this path. Unlike all the other things I’ve tried, this is working (and it’s not even hard, more like delightful!) My body and my mind are coming more and more into harmony. Four times now, I’ve had to order new jeans, each a size smaller than the last. The first few times I’d open the package, take a look, and wonder how these ‘small’ things would ever go on me. This last time, I took a look, smiled, and zipped them right up. I’m not even afraid of gaining it all back, because I have been made new. Lots of people are noticing my new size, but the best compliment of all is that my countenance has changed. I am noticing that I am beginning to think of possibilities again – including those that have nothing at all to do with weight. It has been a long, long time coming and my heart is filled with gratitude. Thanks, Live Well!